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Minister Chinamasa

Business Reporters
Government is engaging South African financial institutions on the possibility of accessing loans at sustainable concessionary rates.
This comes at a time when some South African institutions are flocking into the country investing in different sectors of the economy.
The Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Transnet are angling for some infrastructure development projects.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said South African finance institutions should consider providing funding to Zimbabwe at concessionary rates.

“South Africa is our biggest trading partner and our largest source of imports and it is not in the interest of the financial institutions of South Africa corporate sectors to see its neighbours not at the same level of development as they are,” said Minister Chinamasa.

“It is only through your assistance that we develop to the same level industrially. Please don’t charge us interest rates which are way above what you charge South African corporates.”

He said: “Charge us fairly as you come to invest in different sectors of the economy with the view of bringing Zimbabwe to the same level as yours industrially and in infrastructure.”

South African Ambassador to Zimbabwe Vusi Mavimbela said his country has suggested a proposal that will see Zimbabwe and South Africa forming a bi-national commission to address economic issues between the two countries.

Already there is a joint commission between SA and Zimbabwe that meets every two years.
The commission is chaired by the Foreign Affairs ministries of the two countries and it discusses a list of issues ranging from economic, commercial, political and security.

“We think we should establish a bi-national commission, which will be a commission between the two countries.
“However as SA we have  put forward a proposal to say we need to upgrade our relations because this joint commission at the ministerial level chaired by ministers is not enough to solve our issues,” said Ambassador Mavimbela.

The bi-national commission would be chaired by heads of state and it will take place annually and Zimbabwe has accepted the proposal that will see the commission being chaired by heads of state.

He said development finance institutions coming to Zimbabwe are an economic arm of the SA government.
The Public investment commission which is part of the institutions interested in Zimbabwe, apart from investing in the African continent, is currently discussing the establishment of Africa wide pension fund.

Ambassador Mavimbela said in South Africa the PSC sits over R1,5 trillion but it is saying that  it needs to negotiate a pension fund  that encompasses the African continent and see which countries are ready so that they can expand this pool of resources  that can be used for investment in the African continent.
“So they have a very good initiative and once approved they are ready to go the continent,” he said.